Charitable Giving

The following essay on charitable giving is by anonymous CJ. I have contributed my own comments at the end.

                                                    "Charity
     Over the past month or so I have provided commentary on a variety of political issues.  Today I want to comment on charitable giving.
     As you may know, Americans are as a nation the most generous people on the earth.  There are many factors involved not the least of which are our founding principles as embodied in our Constitution.  In recent years, the federal government has become more and more involved in support programs for the disadvantaged.  Some of these programs have worked fairly well and others have been disasters.  None have worked as efficiently and effectively as private charity.  However, one consequence of the government's intrusion has been the dampening of private charity.
     Having said that, I want to urge you to continue and to expand the good work that all of you do on behalf of others.  This takes the form of charitable gifts of money but also in gifts of your time and talent.  Perhaps in your early years the charity is more of the latter, but both are important.  As you consider your gifts, kindly remember to keep the focus sharp.  Contributing small mounts to many is commendable, but larger gifts to a few will have a greater impact.  The simple reason is that in sharpening your focus, you will learn just how much of the gift is delivered to those in need.  It is relatively easy to determine, but you must do "due diligence".
    Prime examples of charities that are efficient and effective are the Catholic Church and the Salvation Army.  There are others.  Examples of charities that are far less efficient  are the United Fund and the Red Cross.  The Red Cross is most efficient in delivering aid in specific cases such as natural disasters.  The United Fund has efficiency and effectiveness problems in general.  The federal government is far and away the least efficient."

    CJ has not covered one of my pet peeves, which is the tremendous number of mail and phone call solicitations that I receive asking for money. We also see these presented as TV advertisements.
    These generally concern destitute animals, starving children, homeless vets, cancer, drunk driving, and a multitude of other things. I generally consider these to be opportunistic attempts to fleece me and line the pockets of the instigators. My attempts to find out how much of each dollar actually goes to the intended purpose have met with failure.
    While I never contribute to these organizations, my wife will occasionally send a small check. This seems to put her on the "grand mailing list", which increases the number of mail solicitations and phone calls. I admit that I could reduce my consternation by getting caller ID, but I hate being forced into that situation. It's also impossible to convince my wife that she is likely perpetuating fraud with these miscellaneous contributions. My son has said, as has also anonymous CJ, that one should take leadership in charitable giving rather than be reactive to advertisements and requests. His leadership suggestions are to contribute only to her church, the Children's Home, and one of the local colleges which she supports. But it falls on deaf ears.
    Anonymous CJ has said it correctly. Use due diligence, which means if you can't spend the time and effort to find out how your money is being spent when you contribute it, you should not be contributing. The other aspect which I will second, is to do work. It can be as a volunteer to the local school system or university, the local food bank, Meals on Wheels, etc..